Action must be taken to tame transport sector menace, says CS Matiang’i

Interior CS Fred Matiang’i has said the government will act immediately to tame the chaos in the public transport sector. Speaking at KCB towers in Nairobi, CS Matiang’i said the greatest example of how lawlessness is almost being institutionalized in the country is seen in how the transport sector is operating and if action isn’t taken, there will soon be a lot of problems in securing the country. “We are dealing with a sector where people have actually decided to be a law unto themselves,” he said.

A traffic police crackdown on PSVs in Nairobi earlier this week sent shockwaves in the public transport sector, and both NTSA and the police department have confirmed that all PSVs that don’t meet the set traffic rules will be impounded starting Monday next week. The operation has drawn mixed reactions from residents but the authorities have insisted sanity must be restored on the roads, and that the infamous traffic rules must be followed. CS Matiang’i has said the public transport sector is slowly growing into a “monster”, citing a case where cartels collect money, Kshs 50,000, from owners who want to ply a certain route “These are people you wouldn’t name if you are a matatu operator, and this happens especially in the main urban areas in the country,” he said.

He said cartels in the transport sector step up to face off with security officials and make it difficult to bring about law and order. “We must change and we are going to change because we can’t continue to live this way. No one has lied to us that it’s going to be a walk in the park, what we are about to undertake is a tough journey but we’ll walk that path or else slowly but surely we’ll lose the country,” he said.